Google’s Q3 is profitable

Bolstering its assertion that its ad model is recession-proof, Google turned in traffic and revenue growth in its third quarter.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said, “While we are realistic about the poor state of the global economy, we will continue to manage Google for the long term, driving improvements to search and ads, while also investing in future growth areas such as enterprise, mobile and display.”

Google reported revenue of $5.54 billion for the quarter, up 31 percent compared with the third quarter of 2007 and an increase of 3 percent compared with the second quarter of 2008.

Net income for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.35 billion, compared with $1.25 billion in the immediately preceding second quarter of 2008.

Separately, Google appointed David Rosenblatt president for global display advertising, a new position. Google has only begun getting involved in display advertising.

Rosenblatt is the former CEO of DoubleClick, which Google acquired in March for $3.1 billion.